I remember back when Reebok pumps were the craze; all the kids had them. I was begging for them, saying everyone else had them, and I'll never forget: my dad, Driving his '77 cutlass, calmly looked over at me and just said "Tough Shit".....then continued driving.
lol

I can see though, as a parent it would be tough to deal with it etc. Good luck dude.

The phone thing is a little different in the sense that the phone becomes the social connection between kids (primarily through texting). If your kid doesn't have one and all the other kids do, your kid can easily end up completely out of the social loop. I guess facebook and twitter from a computer at the home, wi-fi texting from a Touch, or a kid with a really proactive social personality can make up for it to some extent, but the phone is pretty key.